Revving Up: Massive Recalls, Classic Car Storage, and a Lexus Review

Music. Buckle up for Let's Talk Wheels with Mike Herzing and Jeremy Bierenbaum.

Today you're going to find out what companies are calling almost 2.5 million vehicles. And we're going to talk to you about storing your classic car. I'm also going to do a nice review of a Lexus that you're going to really like. So, folks, it's time to buckle up and learn about all these stories, and a lot more than that.

Welcome to your favorite auto show, Let's Talk Wheels. I'm Mike Herzing, and every week we're going to give you automotive and power sports, news, interviews, car reviews, and classic car information from my capable co-host, Jeremy Bierenbaum, based right there in Southern California. Let's bring him in.

Mr. B, what's happening, buddy? Hey, hey, hey. I just went on a long road trip this weekend, And if you ever want to find out how bad California drivers are, I know inside traffic, you think they're terrible. But when you get on a two lane open road, you really see who's rude, who's not paying attention. And, you know, all these things that are just common courtesy on the road that just don't happen anymore. You mean like parking your butt in the left lane while everybody's passing lane?

Yeah. Or, you know, you're lined up in the left lane and then people pass you at 80 on the right. And you're like, hey, there's a reason we're all backed up here. You know, wait your turn kind of thing. Right. And they're trying to get to the front of the line and then cut in in front of somebody. Yeah. Right. Right behind a big rig or something. I know. Or the people, those are the same people that when you're coming up to a light, you know,

And they see that the other lane is clear. They jump over to the other side and they end up taking away this right in front of an 18 wheeler, which takes their braking space, cuts it in half. Yeah. Then they wonder why sometimes 18 wheeler will barrel into the back of you. That's because you just brake check them. You know, I hate that. I hate that. You know, I don't have any problem. You know, Jeremy, I'm a fast driver. And most people in Texas and Florida, a lot of states, we all drive fast.

But you can drive safe and fast. Yeah, and you can drive respectful. Even if you're going 80. Someone's coming up behind you going 90, you don't have to be the police officer going, well, he's speeding. It doesn't matter. Just get over. Let him go and then move back. Yes, let it go. That's it. Get over it. Move your butt over. Let the person go ahead of you. Think of it this way. Hey, there's a rabbit. If there's a radar strap up ahead,

he's going to find it for you. That's what I always say. Let him get the ticket. Yeah, let him be the rabbit. You know, in Texas, you can go 10 over and they don't give you any problem. They don't even bat an eye. You know, matter of fact, the cops will usually pass you up. Now, one thing, and I'm not a California fan, don't get me wrong. One thing you guys have done is you punish people that drive distracted.

And I don't know if that kind of law works or not, but boy, every time I'm seeing somebody going slow in the fast lane or they're weaving, I realize that they're on their phone. Yeah. They're staring at their phone. It makes me crazy. Makes me crazy. We don't have to get it into it too much more. It used to be policed a lot better than it is, but I feel like nowadays everyone is on their phones. Put them down.

All right. All right, folks, before we get ahead of ourselves, which you've already done, it's all down the toilet.

All right. Mike Herzing, Jeremy Berenbaum. Let's talk wheels. Let's get started with the news and notes segment. Talk about these huge recalls and it's Honda. How about that? And we had Toyota last week. Big problems. Now we got Honda. It's these brands that you and I used to say were the bulletproof brands, right? And things just aren't made like they're used to anymore. So Honda's got a recall for 1.7 million Hondas and Acuras in the U.S.

Over concerns of a defective steering box component that could pose a safety risk. They're recalling 2022 to 2025 Honda Civics, Honda Civic hybrid sedans, Honda Civic hatchbacks, a lot of Civic, Civic Type R, CR-V, even stuff with a fuel cell. And what it has to do with is an improperly produced steering box worm wheel that's not letting oil to get through and lubricate it. And over time, it gets really hard to turn your steering wheel.

Yeah, it's the power steering rack because they've got some bad manufactured racks. And then they've also, after that recall, you know, which was actually last week, we didn't cover it, but it happened last week. This week, they recalled, let's say, 720,000 different vehicles for bad high pressure fuel pumps. And, you know, they've done a fuel pump problem before. And I thought they fixed it on earlier models, but they still got it.

And, you know, the pump can start leaking or this or that, but it's really, it's inside the tank. So it's not a big deal, but it's going to, it's going to crap out. You're going to be hard to start or the car will, when it gets hot, sometimes when you go to restart it, it doesn't start right. You should get a letter, but this is going to be, I mean, this is a lot, but there's been... Problems with their automatic emergency braking issues and just so many different things.

But this is going to recall the 2023 to 2024 Accords and Accord hybrids, the Civic Sedans, 2025, the brand new Civic Sedan hybrids and the CRV hybrids. You know, it's just, it's, you know, it's one of those things. But, you know, we've also got a Ram recall. Yeah. 129,000 pickups for Ram are being recalled due to a safety issue in the self-canceling turn signal. That's when you like put your blinker on, then you make a left turn. As you go back to straight, your blinker is supposed to, you know,

turn off. But right now that's not happening. Well, you know, it's funny that I see people drive around all the time with blinkers on. I just want to go, you idiot. But that's the same kind of person that there's a curve in the road and they turn on their turn signal. Whoa. You're in the right turn lane only. Right turn only. And guess what? They've got your turn signal on. You can only do that, you know, but either way, we won't even go into that.

What I'm curious about on all these recalls and all the ones we've been talking about, you know, all this year is a lot of them seem to affect cars built 2022 and later up till now. And those are the cars that are in the design process during COVID, during the times when, you know, supply chains were having a really tough time getting parts. Right. So I'm curious, is it that they didn't get to go to their number one preferred vendor?

Is it that they're rushing through stuff to push it out onto the market? What is it? I'm sure there are a lot of different effects, but it kind of seems like it's all from around the COVID times of engineering. If during COVID, companies couldn't find employees that wanted to work. Companies couldn't find, of course, then they couldn't source the parts they needed to build the parts. People think that Honda builds all these parts, cars, or Ram builds all their stuff.

No, they build the big pieces of it, the bodies and stuff like that. But most stuff, the components are all subcontracted out. There's no way one company can build everything. So they have other companies build stuff. Well, the people that built their racks, Honda racks, evidently, they had the specifications weren't right. The machining wasn't right. So it leaks grease. It dries out. There's no lubrication. the steering racks will seize up.

Fuel pump, same thing. It could be some kind of electrical part inside that fuel pump. Maybe the company that sources them couldn't source them anymore. They had to source them from somebody else. Normally it's probably some third world country and the quality control may not be there. So you've got a problem, but the problem doesn't show up for like three or four years. Yeah. There's no way I would buy a car. And I'm telling you folks, be really careful buying a car that's a 21 model,

22 or 23s. They're just going to have. Problems. When you think about it, a 2020 model or 2021 model was built in probably 2020, and then the parts were all sourced and built in 2019, right in the middle of COVID. So we're going to have nothing but problems, and it's going to continue for several years until we get rid of this stuff. It's going to make a big difference.

The one piece of advice I would offer is if you are looking at a car that is built within this price, excuse me, not price range, but year range is make sure it has its manufacturer's retail warranty still intact.

And then possibly if you're going to keep it past that warranty period, I'd look at extending it with, you know, an aftermarket warranty, but you do have to be careful with where you purchase these aftermarket warranties from, because sometimes you go to file a claim and they don't include it.

So you got to do a little bit of homework and legwork, um, on the front side before you purchase all right folks coming up next on let's talk wheels we have our car review on the lexus nx 350h we're going to talk about rvs today with brian johnson from a devontron rv this guy knows everything and uh it's funny been in a he's been in the car business forever now he's kind of in the rvs because they have four rv locations and he knows everything about

them so he's going to update also what's going on there all this on today's let's talk wheels hang on be right back. Music. Let's talk wheels welcome back to let's talk wheels your favorite auto show mike herzing and jeremy berenbaum today we're going to talk about my car review which is the lexus nx 350h luxury well they make this model a couple different ways now if you want a lexus 350, First of all, they make a 250 and a 350. The 250s start around the low 40s. And the 350s will go into,

let's see, 46. No, $45,750. So they have a 350, a 350 hybrid, a 350 premium, 350 hybrid premium. They have a 350 F-Sport. They have a 350 luxury, which is what this one is. I mean, come on. They got so many stuff. they got an X350 hybrid luxury. They have a 450 hybrid luxury and a 450 export. Give me a break. That's a lot of models. It's a lot of models, a lot of flavors, you know, big price range different from 41,000 all the way up to 63. So you can kind of pick and choose what you want.

But the one that you drove the NX350 luxury is kind of in the middle of the road and a great selection of the bunch. Yeah. You know, the one I had had a sticker price with delivery, which is $1,150 and processing was $57,275. The base price on it was $50,990. It was the NX350H luxury model. Okay. They make a little bit cheaper one, but this is a hybrid. And if you're going to buy one of these, might as well buy a hybrid.

This is a standard hybrid, which is called a mild hybrid. It's not a plug-in. 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine. Okay. And it's got, with the hybrid, the mild hybrid, it's got 240 combined horsepower, which is, no, it goes just fine. Okay. It's all wheel drive, which is really nice, 18 inch wheels. And it's a good looking car. The one I had was kind of a rose gold. It's called Copper Crest with a light colored interior and really a pretty vehicle. It's a Lexus. Come on.

It's going to be built really well. It's going to be, you know, a little conservative and that's what people want and that's how they like. You know what I mean? But this is basically the cousin. First of all, it's a compact luxury SUV. It's the second generation of the NX. This thing seats five. It's kind of like the people that buy the XC60 like you have, Jeremy, or an MB Mercedes-Benz. Yep. I think the RX is probably closer to my XC60.

The NX is one size smaller. It's like the little brother to the RX, which is probably Lexus's most successful car, in my opinion, just in terms of sales. You see them everywhere. The TNGA or Tenga K platform, which is the same as a Camry, the Crown Crossover, the Highlander, those kind of vehicles. This is the same basic platform, but they can change it around a lot. You know what I mean? It, like I said, it drives good. It handles good. It's quiet.

Fit and finish is what everything you would expect on a Lexus. Perfect. You know what I mean? I don't like a CVT transmission, although this one performed okay at everything. I just don't like the way they're just kind of, you know, they have that really funny sound when you're, when you accelerate it, because it's not in one gear. It sounds like the transmission slipping, but it's not.

Makes me just nuts, but it's got all the safety goodies, all the blind spot monitors and, all of the parking sensors and this kind of stuff and. And it's got a pretty nice infotainment system. Toyota has one of the best ones out there. It works very well. Great speakers and that kind of stuff. But this one also had something called Advanced Park, which I help it park. You know, like parallel park. And it has all the parking sensors for whenever you kind of do in any kind of parking.

I know on your normal day driving, you probably never use that. Do you test that feature in the cars that you drive? No, I never parallel park. I've tested it on a couple of cars and it was a more of a trouble than it was worth. Every time I tried to parallel park with that, somebody would come up behind me wanting to pass, get past me, you know, and I'm just like, I'm trying to learn how to do this.

Yeah. But this one had a digital key, which I didn't get to use because I didn't sign up for it, but it's $375. The advanced park is another $250. The cold weather package, which is the heated steering wheel and the windshield wiper de-icer, that's another 250 bucks.

Front cross traffic alert and lane change assist was 270 bucks power folding heated rear seats is another 1030 the panoramic glass roof was 500 that's had this really premium color this rose gold stuff that's another 595 bucks wireless phone charger. Or panoramic view mirror, that would suit. It had a digital, it had a camera rear view mirror. That's 800 bucks. You know, illuminated door sills, 460 bucks, just because so the door sill will light up.

I don't think I would do that. But it's just, it's a wonderful car. It's great for people that might be around. It's got all of the safety features in the world. This sucker practically drives itself. You know, on the highway, it's nimble. Now, as far as the RX and some of the other models, those are a little bit bigger. This is kind of a very sleek, you know, kind of a, my friend would call it whoopty swoopty. My friend, Sean Lindeman would call it whoopty swoopty kind of a profile.

And of course, the people in the backseat kind of have, don't have quite the headroom. And behind the backseat, there's not all that much room, but this is also a compact SUV. Okay. It's not a midsize. You know, when you get into the Highlander and stuff, those are significantly bigger. And that's something that people need to think about. But it's a wonderful car. And this thing gets stupid fuel economy because it is a hybrid.

It gets 41 in the city and 37 on the highway, 39 combined. I think I ended up with about 35 or 36 combined. For the way I drive it, that's a miracle. That's really good. I think one of my favorite parts about the Lexus is once you step inside, you put it from a standpoint where you have a really chaotic day. It's loud on the city streets. And then you step in and you close the door and you're greeted by a really nice, luxurious cabin with a lot of leather,

you know, nice deviated stitching. You close the door. It's very silent in there. Even when you're on the road, the road noise is really, you know, kept to the outside. Oh, yeah. You know, doesn't have a big screen. It's very, you know, Lexus, Toyota, kind of not overbilled, not in your face. It's really nice. Yeah, it's very nice. And like I said, it does have all of the heated seats and cooled seats and doesn't have massaging seats, but it has everything else.

It's just a nice car. I think this would be a very good addition to any household. That's for darn sure. All right. Go to your Lexus dealer and check them out. All right. Let's talk about a quick question, Jeremy. Yeah. What 70s, 80s classic is a great buy right now? Camaro, Mustang, et cetera.

Yeah. What do you think? Yeah. You know, it's tough. You really got to find the right one because of, you know, some of the things we've talked to previously about cars in the seventies, you know, cheap materials and not a lot of power, but I still think you can find one.

I like those, like things that are a little bit weirder models that weren't made in mass production, like some of the Dodge Shelby stuff, you know, just cause it's fun, still has the Shelby name, can it retain a little bit more value than its lower-level counterparts? How about a Buick Grand National, something like that? Yeah, if you can find a good one or a GNX, you know, the issue is finding a good one that hasn't changed hands five, six, ten times.

Some of the cutlasses and things like that can be a real bargain. They really, really are. All right, folks. Thank you, Jeremy. Coming up, we're going to talk about RVs. Kind of love that. what's popular right now and how to choose the right one we have brian johnson from demantran rv he's coming up next so hang on it'll be fun. Music. We'll be right back.

Welcome back let's talk wheels mike kersing and jeremy berenbaum tell you what folks as we talked about earlier in the show, one of my favorite people, Brian Johnson. He is with the Demontron Auto Group, and these guys have a. Camper stores and about every other brand you can possibly think of on cars. But this guy knows everything about everything. And we always check in with him and say, what's going on, man, about RVs? So Brian, tell us about what's going on in the RV world right now.

It's kind of all over the place. I just got back from an auction, an RV auction on Friday, and some of the higher end units were going for about half a book. And some of your mid-range units were going for over book. So it's kind of in the recovery process. Well, it does sound a little strange, but it seems like this is the time of year when people kind of, the weather's not horrible yet.

It's kind of really, it's for several states like Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, as long as you don't get into hurricane season, which is where we're at. But the weather's really good and it's a beautiful time to take a ride. The fuel prices are not bad. But if we're going to go out and do something, let's say we got a young family and they need an RV, what would you say, a travel trailer or a little Class C? Or what would they do?

A lot of them start out with a travel trailer and then move up to a Class C, and then eventually a gas A or diesel A. Okay, that's an A class, which is basically a bus. The Class C is what? The cutaway kind of a van front end and a camper on top of it? Okay, that way you can sleep in the camper. You know, it's funny. I used to think, oh, man, this can't be safe. But, you know, driving around in an RV, you don't hear about people really getting hurt.

You know, you don't hear horrible accidents. You know what I mean? Especially if you have the right equipment and you're paying attention, especially with towables. I mean, if towables, I mean, if they're not willing to buy stability or sway arms, I don't feel comfortable selling them a unit. You know, you're right. You know, it's funny that the whole towing world.

It's gotten so much easier for people. Yeah, Chevy and Ford and Ram and even Toyota, they have all these backup systems to help you back up. They have things to help you tow. They have anti-sway. They have blind spot monitors that cover your camper and you. Absolutely. It's the easiest it's ever been, isn't it? Don't you think so? It's way easier than it's been in the past. And you still have to pay attention, though.

And that's, you know, people get a little complacent and you just need to really pay attention and make sure you're not, it's only more than your vehicle is rated for. Okay. Now folks, Mike Herzing, Jeremy Bearbaum, Let's Talk Wheels. We're talking to Brian Johnson. He's from the Demontron Auto Group and they have RVs. How many RV stores do you guys have? We currently have four locations. Four locations. And those are big locations. I've been there. Yeah.

You know, it seems like, I don't know whether I have RV eyes or whatever. I mean, I've owned almost every, all of them, but it just seemed like they're just more popular than ever. They're definitely more popular than ever. And there's definitely a wider range of options than ever. Now they have them where they have patios on the side of the things that fold out. I mean, it's just, it's getting crazier and crazier. Every time you think, okay, I've seen it all.

No, you haven't. Well, as soon as I've seen, you know, seen people that are crazy, I'll go, man, you haven't seen crazy till you've been here, you know, and we're not even talking X, Ys. You know, that's not that kind of crazy, but there are crazy people out there. They're not nice wives. They're practice wives. There you go. Practice wife. There you go. Well, we both have really good ones, so that makes it easier. But man, I'll tell you what, buddy.

It's just, if somebody comes into you and says, you know, Brian, I want an RV. I always wanted to travel and listen to stuff. Let's say it's an older couple, maybe semi-retired or kind of getting ready to retire and you kind of want to start buying stuff so you have it paid off. So when you retire, what would you recommend to somebody? You know, if it's just a couples coach is what we call it is, is it's just really for two people.

I might even consider, you know, showing them a class B, which is basically conversion van with a bathroom because they're easy to drive, they're easy to maneuver, they're easy to park and you don't have to put them in storage facilities or a small seat. Of course, a lot of them, they're getting close to retirement, and they're celebrating their lives, and they go with the big diesel pushers that can run upwards. You can get into settling figures. Oh, that's not a very good place for me.

No, no, no. Not for me. No, no. Yeah. All right. So, folks, Mike Hursing, Jeremy Berenbauer, Let's Talk Wheels. We're talking to Brian Johnson, in case you just tuned in. We're talking about RVs because Brian knows everything. He's with the Demontra Group. So, Brian, do you have to have a special license or anything to drive an RV?

As scary as it is, no. Oh, no. I mean, I can tell somebody a 45-foot bus with air brakes, and they can leave with a, you know, it's state-driven, but in Texas, they can leave with a Class C license. You know, it's just, I guess it's okay, because people are that, most of the time, they're smart enough to do that. They can drive these things. You know, it's not hard to drive. I know, I remember, you know, my wife could drive it and it just couldn't back it up, but she could drive it.

You know what I mean? And believe it or not, the bigger ones are easier to drive than the smaller ones. They don't sway as much. You know, as long as it's not a really windy, one of those record days where the 18-wheels are all pulling off and stuff like that. You know, it's funny. You know, I had a motorhome and I've got a buddy of mine just bought one and it was like, I've got a CB radio. I talk to the truckers. I have a wonderful time driving. And, you know, and it's kind of a whole fun.

You know, it's kind of like a family kind of thing. You go every RV park he goes to, he meets people. And these are fucking become lifelong friends. Sometimes they'll meet at the same campground six months later or whatever. I mean, isn't it kind of cool? It's a community. I mean, it's a lifestyle community. And I've never run into an RV or at a park that was just rude. I really haven't. You know, it's having fun. They're on vacation. You know, it's funny.

And what if you wanted to get into, let's say, a small camper of some sort, whether it's a pullable, a towable, you call it a trailer, a buffer pull, something like that. Right. What's what's the entry level price? You could probably get something right around the nine nine thousand nine hundred dollar or right around, say, ten thousand dollar range. You can get something with bunks probably around twelve nine. Mm hmm.

You know, about 16 to 17 foot. What does that count? How many people can go in that comfortably? Comfortably four. If you've got, you know, little ones, you could possibly fit more because a lot of times you'll have a queen bed and two bunks and then the dining table will normally convert to a two sleeper. You know, it's funny. I remember when pop-ups were the thing, but nowadays regular travel trailers with all these slides and everything are

just, and they're not that heavy. That's the best part. You don't have to have a giant vehicle to tow these things anymore. No, I mean, they've got towables out there that you can tow with a Jeep Wrangler. You know, and that used to only be the pop-ups. Right, it used to only be the pop-ups. That's right. But you know, sometimes I'll see these campers and I'm looking at it and they're real high off the ground and they got like really aggressive big wheels and

tires on them. I'm like, is this an off-road camper? Wait a minute, it doesn't have any power. Why put knobby tires on it? Why put all these aggressive tires on it if you're not really taking it off-road? Some of them are set up with complete solar, so you can be completely off the grid and take it off-road. So, I mean, like I said, as soon as you think you've seen it all, you haven't. No, you haven't.

You know, it's the strangest thing. RV business is just, you know, the guys, the people that you and I were talking a couple weeks ago about the people that work at these RV stores. And they're a mechanic, they're plumbers, they're air conditioning people, they're carpenters. I mean, talk about a real rounded technician, a person you have working there. Yeah, it's not like the car side of things.

I mean, you do have the chassis work, but on top of that, like you said, you've got carpentry, you've got electrical, you've got plumbing, all inside a unit that is basically going through an earthquake every time you move it. So things are shaking. Yeah, it is. All right, Brian, tell us, where can we find out more about the RVs? Let's say, how about the ones that you guys sell? What are some of the websites that you have? So we've just got DemontronRV.com. D-E-M-O-N-T-R-O-N-D-R-V.com.

Correct. And that'll access all four of our locations and all of our inventory. I tell you what, as always, I learned more from you as I always do. Sometimes it scares me, but I appreciate every single time. Ryan Johnson, Demontron RV. Thank you so much for joining us today. Enjoyed it. Thanks for having me. I tell you what, that was fun.

We're going to talk about, A, storing your cars, storing your classics, and what to keep off them, what to do to them. That's coming up next right here on Let's Talk Wheels. Music.

Welcome back to Let's Talk Wheels. Mike Herzing and Jeremy Berenbaum that was fun talking to Brian Johnson knows everything about RVs let me tell you what and he also knows it from, because he used to be GM of the Demontron Chevy store and some other stores and then Hyundai and then Toyota and Genesis and all their different brands but we've got a question, Bernard lives in Utah lucky guy unless it's winter time you know how's the weather

there in California Jeremy by the way I didn't ask you earlier in the show, You know, it is finally starting to come down a little bit. It was like 75 today, overcast for the most of the day. And because it's been so hot, it's actually really welcoming. We had 99 earlier this week. Ouch. But then it's going to drop to 49. You know, at night, it's going to be, I think, Thursday night or Wednesday night.

Last Wednesday or Thursday night, it turned to like 39. No, I think I got 42 degrees up in East Texas. I mean, that's a big change. All right, Bernard, he lives in Utah, but is leaving for work overseas for six months. He has to store his 2010 Tahoe, and he also has a 73 240Z. Great car. For six months. What's the best way to do it? The Z is going to be inside, and the Tahoe is going to be outside. You know, for the Z inside, you know, you're parking it for a while.

I might put some fuel stabilizer in it, even though in six months, he really shouldn't have- top off the fuel, he may save for later. Who knows? Yeah. But it's always great though. When you, when you get into a car after six months and you have a full tank of gas and you didn't leave it. Cause I've done this before where you leave it with, you know, not even enough gas to get to the gas station. You're like, ah, shoot.

The other thing though is, you know, rusty buildup in the tank. Yeah, exactly. I always want to make sure tire pressure is good. I hate to lose tire pressure. Now all of a sudden your tires are low and they start cracking on the sides. Right. Right. So So that's a nice thing. So maybe take the pressure off the wheels. And if you had the four jack stands, put it up on jack stands. If you could, that would probably be the most desirable way to do so.

Yeah. And then I think as far as that, making sure all the fluids levels are right, all the fluid, the coolant is clean and stuff like that. That's a big deal because it is freeze over there. So he's got to make sure he's got plenty of cooling in it and it's good. As far as storing the Tahoe on the outside, first of all, get a car cover for sure. And you know what? Don't get a cheapy car cover. Sometimes they sell these ones that are like a one size fits all.

You say, I got an SUV and they give you one. The problem with that, and I always like to find a good deal, right? But I've done it before where I've gotten these cheapy ones and they don't fit the contours of your body correctly or they're too big. Then all of a sudden on a windy day, it's blowing and the fabric is rubbing all over your paint and it starts to wear on the edges. You know, it also, if you get one that's made to fit your car, it's going to kind of hold your car better.

You're still going to probably put the strap underneath it, but there's not as big a chance that the wind is going to take this thing away like a parachute. And now all of a side of your car as it's being blown around. Yeah, because those covers last for years and years and years. I mean, I've got a cover I got 20 years ago. But by the way, folks, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Berenbaum, Let's Talk Wheels. We're talking about storing your car.

Some of the same things we mentioned for his Z, that's going to be inside, you know, making sure your coolant is good. And they make a little tester. You can get them on Amazon. It'll tell you, you know, if you've added or if there's just too much water in there and you want to put the right coolant for the temperature of your environment. if possible. Try and store your car on cement over dirt, over a dirt driveway.

If it is a dirt driveway, you could even, you know, put a tarp down and pull it on over the tarp. That way, you know, moisture condensation isn't going to be coming up from the ground on the underside of your car. And then a big thing that people don't think about is, you know, if you have a cover, this might alleviate some of it is make sure that, you know, you're in a place where leaves and dirt and debris aren't falling on your car.

There's a couple reasons for this. The leaves have, you know, chemicals in them as they start to decompose and they can actually like stain the paint of your car. That's one reason. A good coat of wax will also help you out on something like this. Just put a nice barrier or layer on top of your paint. The other thing is, and this happens to a lot of people, is the leaves accumulate in your windshield, where your windshield wipers are. At the base of the windshield.

There's supposed to be some weep holes there so that when water condensation builds up on your windows and starts to roll down, it has a path to get away and out of your car. And what happens with these leaves is they decompose and they basically turn into a mud or a muck, a gunk, and they clog up those holes. You can even see it sometimes when you open the door inside the door jams, you'll still have leaves and gunk in there. Okay. You want to get in there with a vacuum, a screwdriver.

Make sure that's all clear. And that's really going to help you in rust prevention. Well, you won't have a science project growing in your dash somewhere because that's your intake vents. And so you end up with a science project because the Z won't do that. But the Tahoe's 2010, it should have a filter, cabin filter, I believe so. Yeah, it's right there. That'll help some of the leaves there. And so that'll make it easier. But, you know, the leaves are that.

And the other thing is don't store your vehicle with bugs, dead bugs on the paint anywhere. Because a lot of times you'll be driving and you go out in the country and you come back and you've got bugs. You know, stuck on the front of your car. And maybe it's not that bad, but if you let them sit for a month or two months, they're going to eat the killer coat and eat a hole in the paint. And I have had to repaint two cars that I've gotten at a good deal because nobody cleaned them off.

And one of them, they cleaned the grill off, but they didn't clean up above the windshield, the top of the roof, and it ended up eating in the paint. I could clean off the bugs and all of a sudden there's a divot in the paint. And I just went, I hated that.

And that also goes to, you know, the reason I said of washing your car before you put the cover on is as little dirt and debris that you can have between the paint and the cover that's going to be abrasive on your paint or your clear coat is the best possible thing to do. You know, jack stands like we talked about for the Z, making sure you have a

full tank of gas. You know, some people like to put rice, a bag of rice or something, a sock of rice in there, kind of soak up any moisture that might come into the car. That might be, you know, 2010, you could have some seals that have started to really get compressed and they're not doing their best to keep water out anymore. Yeah, you know, they make these water-rid or damp-rid things that you can hang on a hanger. I know for your closet and stuff like that, and it'll absorb all the moisture.

And you can put that in your car, and that would help too. But, you know, anything is just going to be better off. Put the cover on them is a big deal, because he lives where it snows. And if he's going to be gone for six months, it's right in the middle of the snow, things like that. You don't want that sitting on your paint.

You know what? It's just not going to be good for you. some pretty affordable little like what do you call them like portable covers portable cover not portable covers but like you know you drive in under it and you know it's got a hard roof not a not a tarp style roof especially if you're in the snow with with the snow weight piling up and everything you know a tough one is a truck if you have a truck with a bed cover you want to make sure that

you put a stick inside holding that bed cover up because it will accumulate a lot of water or snowy. Yep, sure will. It's certain will. And there's always chance the stuff's going to fall on it and birds and you're going to crap on your car, which is no big deal. And it is if it's going to sit for six months. Hey, if you got some big trees, I would maybe get, you know, a tree trimmer over there and any branches that look like widow makers, anything like that.

Make sure you take them off so they don't come laying on your windshield, you know, in a storm. You know, you're exactly right. And it's just going to be nothing but headaches later on. All right, folks, Mike Herzing and Jeremy Birnbaum, let's talk wheels. We're talking about storing vehicles, and we've got a gentleman that's going off work overseas for six months, and that's not that long.

But I tell you what, the 240Z, if it has fuel sitting in the carbs... And for that long, you really need to have fuel stabilizer in it because those carburetors were very crappy to begin with. Yeah, definitely. And the final point is get a C-TEC trickle charger if you can. You know, run it outside safely so it doesn't get any water intrusion. Worst comes to worst, I would disconnect the negative side of your battery if you can't do that. Or take the battery out and put it in the garage.

Put it in the garage with the C-TEC on it. I just ordered, you know, my fifth C-TEC charger. they really save you a lot of hassle when you want to go start your car and and the battery's still good that's right matter of fact the ctek is the name of the company and they have battery chargers that will not damage the battery sitting for six months that's the best thing every other trickle charger even though they say they're trickle chargers you leave them on for three or

four weeks at a time it's going to boil out the battery and tear it up damage it these guys will not it's the only one that i know of that is it is very smart and intelligent and they help design those algorithms. If you enjoyed the show, tune in the same station next week for the following episode of Let's Talk Wheels. If you missed this show, you can always find us a podcast on all the major podcast platforms.

The podcast contains this show and a bonus segment with an extra car review, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss out. And if you have any topics you want us to cover or questions you need us to answer, email mike at letstalkwheels.com. We'll always respond and we love to hear your car questions.

On behalf of Jeremy Birnbaum, Matt Peralta, myself. Thank you for joining us today. We hope you do it again. Have a great week, folks. Talk soon. Thanks for joining us on another edition of Let's Talk Wheels. We'll see you next week. Music.